Surrey Innovation Awards

The Surrey Innovation Awards celebrates, educates, and connects innovators across all industries by Surrey businesses and helps make Surrey a recognized hub of innovation by igniting a new narrative for our city, strengthening its economic future and building the spirit of innovation.

“It is Surrey’s innovative companies that will meet the challenges of the new economy, expanding opportunity in this great city and improving lives around the globe”
– Anita Huberman, CEO, Surrey Board of Trade

Innovation Concepts:

Transforming ideas into commercial reality

Improving business processes

Tying academic research and developments into commercial reality

Innovation requires collaboration across a wide range of constituencies, including corporate leaders, start-up entrepreneurs, university leaders, faculty members, and students, investors, and public officials.

The 2018 awards will take place at the Surrey Innovation Awards Lunch on November 29, 2018.

Submission

2017 Winners

Excellence in Innovation Category:

ARKTOS Developments Ltd.

ARKTOS Developments Ltd. is a well-established Canadian owned company that designs and manufactures the unique amphibious ARKTOS Craft at its facility in Surrey and is active in both domestic and international markets. ARKTOS Craft were initially developed for use in the Arctic environment as a lifeboat “that can go in ice” due to planned increased exploration activities by the oil industry. With the financial support and technical assistance of the Canadian government and North American oil companies, the first ARKTOS Craft prototype was built and tested in the Canadian Arctic in 1986. Today, the two existing models of ARKTOS Craft have been used for various applications including by the oil & gas sector as an evacuation system for offshore platforms, for seismic survey work in the Bohai Delta, China and Alaska, USA; and for ice management/logistical duties in the Alberta oil sands.

Young Innovator Category:

Focused Interiors

Focused Interiors creates a visual studio generating photorealistic images of properties in the real estate market. These images enable property buyers and property owners to see the potential of real estate regardless of its current state. Focused Interiors combines the old ‘proven’ methods of real estate marketing with today’s state-of-the-art graphics and computer technology to present properties in fresh innovative ways. Up until now, realtors have not been able to take an existing space and reimagine it for potential buyers. Most sellers are not able to execute the transformations needed to market their home and realtors are left with few options to market and sell these undesirable properties. Focused Interiors addresses this issue by developing interior design solutions for these properties and presents these ideas using photorealistic images and interactive 360 panorama tours. In other words, envisioning what’s possible.

Sponsors

Presenting Sponsor

Award Sponsors

Previous Winners

2016

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Small Business Category
Micromatter Technologies

Large Business Category
FortisBC

Young Innovator Category
Shawn Davis – Compy Inc.

Organization Category
West Coast Centre for Learning

2015

With more than 20 years of university research Empower Operations Corporation is built on world-leading, simulation-based design optimization techniques. Empower provides a flagship product, OASIS (Optimization Assisted System Integration Software) that offers efficient design exploration and optimization, engineer-centered interactive design environment and advanced visualization capabilities. Empower also offers optimization procedures that can be integrated with existing engineering simulation software.

Small Business Innovation AwardWINNER: Vantek Innovations

Since 2014, Vantek Innovations has developed the technology to create a safer environment for Emergency Response Vehicles. Vantek Innovations’ algorithm is to shut off the car stereo system and provide an audio message instructing the driver to pull over, even before they are aware of an Emergency Response Vehicle (ERV) approaching. The software lowers collision/fatality rates, and decreases response times by providing the ERV a safe and clear path to the accident/crime scene.

Pacific Community Resources Society (PCRS) Green Courier program was established to substitute the use of commercial couriers for regular inter-office mail between PCRS sites. The PCRS Green Courier program provides respectful employment to persons presently and formerly part of the Ministry of House and Social Development funded Community Assistance Programs. The PCRS Green Courier program saved the agency 17-25% of the pre-existing courier budget in their first year of operation. Along with this, their greatest benefits have been addressing poverty, reducing the agency’s carbon footprint and providing employment to those coping with a variety of challenges.

2014

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Young Innovator AwardWinner: Sean Bindra

Recognizing that bullying is prevalent across our nation, and being a victim of bullying himself, Sean Bindra set out on a 7 week journey to single-handedly organize a flash mob of 600 plus students to bring awareness to the issue. The event received significant media coverage from outlets across Canada, with recognition from BC Premier Christy Clark and Surrey Mayor Dianne Watts. This exposure has brought mass awareness to the issue of bullying.

Excellence in Innovation AwardWinner: SOFTAC Systems Ltd.

SOFTAC Systems Ltd. designed and manufactured an earthquake early warning, automatic utility shut-down device. Coined QuakeTrip, the device gives valuable seconds of warning before shutting off electrical and gas supplies to the building and preventing it from being restored until the building has been properly checked, reducing the risk of fire following an earthquake. QuakeTrip is the only comprehensive device of its kind, and can also control water line valves, the flow through LNG lines and oil pipelines, and acts as a warning device.